Meeting Details

    Council
    24 Jan 2017 - 19:30 to 00:00
    Scheduled
    • Documents
    • Attendance
    • Visitors
    • Declarations of Interests

    Documents

    Agenda

    Standard Items
    1 Lord Mayor's announcements
    2 Declarations of interest

    (Please note that it is the responsibility of individual members to declare an interest prior to the item if they arrive late for the meeting)
    3 Questions from the public
    4 Petitions
    5 pdf Minutes (231Kb)
    To approve the accuracy of the minutes of the council meeting held on 29 November 2016
    6 Questions to cabinet members / committee chairs

    (A printed copy of the questions and replies will be available at the meeting)
    7 Nominations for Lord Mayor and Sheriff 2017 - 18
    To receive nominations for the Lord Mayor and Sheriff for the next civic year
    Purpose - To propose for approval the council tax reduction scheme for 2017-18
    Purpose - To consider the recommendations of the independent panel set up to make recommendations on the members allowances scheme as required by the Local Authorities (Members’ Allowances) (England) Regulations, 2003.
    10 MOTION: Transition to low-emission vehicles

    Proposed by Councillor Carlo and seconded by Councillor Jackson

     UK transport policy supports a radical shift to low and ultra-low-emission vehicles to help meet climate change targets. Such a transformation would also improve air quality. Recent government measures include a range of grants to support green vehicles and provide infrastructure for recharging and refuelling.

    Norwich currently has little local planning and transport policy and guidance on this subject. A strategy for transition to low/ultra-low-emission vehicles and related infrastructure could help meet the council’s key environmental priority of cutting the city’s carbon dioxide emissions, demonstrate that Norwich is a forward-looking and ambitious city, and increase the likelihood of obtaining grants.

    Council RESOLVES to ask cabinet to:

    1) commit to using 100% electric vehicles for the staff pool by 2020;

    2) update the Norwich Local Plan car parking standards by increasing the required number of electric vehicle charging points per major planning application (currently the number is one);

    3) encourage partners such as Norse to move to low/ultra-low-emission vehicles as they update their fleet;

    4) work with partners (including Norwich Highways Agency Committee, the Greater Norwich Development Partnership, Greater Norwich Growth Board and New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership) to:

    a) ,in developing the Greater Norwich Local Plan and updating the Transport for Norwich Strategy and the Norwich Local Plan, develop a vision, strategy and set of policies for promoting the uptake of low/ultra-low-emission vehicles and supporting infrastructure;

    b) identify suitable projects and apply for available grants for extending the local network of charging/fuelling infrastructure for private low-emission vehicles, and for shifting the local bus/taxi/private hire car fleet to green fuels.





    11 MOTION: Provisional Local Government Finance Settlement: ‘Core spending power’ and New Homes Bonus

    Proposed by Councillor Stonard and seconded by Councillor Waters

    This year’s provisional local government finance settlement for Norwich has resulted in a further significant deterioration in the council’s funding position with a 9% reduction in core spending power for 2016/17– 2017/18. Only 12 local authorities have had a larger reduction.

    Over the full spending review period to 2019/20 Norwich will suffer a reduction in core spending power of around 15.9% with only three councils in a worst position.

    This deterioration in funding is a direct consequence of the loss of Revenue Support Grant and New Homes Bonus which required the council to find £30 million recurring revenue savings since 2010.

    Council RESOLVES to:-

    1) note with dismay:-

     a) that it calculates the actual core spending power reduction over the full spending review period will be closer to 18.7%

    b) the following effects of changes to New Homes Bonus announced in the Provisional Local Government Finance Settlement:-

    i. The introduction of a 0.4% baseline for growth, below which no New Homes Bonus payments will be awarded. For Norwich this means an award of just 4% of our growth or just 11 new properties of 337 delivered!

    ii. The broader impact across the country - 36 authorities will now receive no new New Homes Bonus reward for 2017/18 despite delivering a net increase of nearly 8,000 new homes between them.

    iii. The changes to New Homes Bonus provides no incentive to some local authorities to build housing, and might delay building to maximise delivery above 0.4% to generate a reasonable level of New Homes Bonus the delivery of sustained, crucially needed, planned housing development.

    2) ask the Leader of the Council and the Portfolio holder for Resources to write to:-

    a) the Secretary of State for Local Government, asking him to :-

    i. entirely remove the baseline growth threshold for New Homes Bonus

    ii. reward councils for the number properties that are built rather than on the council tax banding of those properties

    iii. find a national solution for adult social care, rather than shift funding from New Homes Bonus which impacts negatively particularly on District Councils and on investment in much needed housing.

    b) other relevant ministers, Norwich MPs, the Local Government Association and the District Councils Network asking them to also lobby the Secretary of State accordingly

     


    Additional Meeting Documents

    Attendance

    Name
    No attendance information has been recorded for the meeting.
    Name
    No other member attendance information has been recorded for the meeting.
    NameReason for Sending Apology
    No apology information has been recorded for the meeting.
    NameReason for Absence
    No absentee information has been recorded for the meeting.

    Declarations of Interests

    Member NameItem Ref.DetailsNature of DeclarationAction
    Councillor David Bradford8 Council tax reduction schemePecuniaryin receipt of council tax reduction
    Councillor Sally Button8Council tax reduction schemePecuniaryin receipt of council tax reduction
    Councillor Keith Driver8Council tax reduction schemePecuniaryin receipt of council tax reduction

    Visitors

    Visitor Information is not yet available for this meeting